Manufacture of artificial silk and the like



Nov. 11 1924.

w.' P;- DREAPER MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL SILK AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.10, 1922 Fig.1.

I/VI/A'A/TOR 1 7&2 Wa er Patented-Nov. 11,- 1924 ILLIAM PORTER DREAPER,oF'LoNnoN, ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL SILK AND THE LIKE.

Application filed mam 10, 1922. Serial no. 528,345.

To all whom it may canoe m1.

Be it known that; I, WVILLIAM 'PORTER DREAPER, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Lon'don,-England, have invented new anduseful Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Silk and the like,of' which the following is a specification.

In the ordinary process of finishing'artifi'cial silk the skeins arefirst dried in a stretched condition and then wetted out and treatedchemically and then dried a second time by hanging on rods andsubjecting them to a very gent current of heatedair in a stove. Theobject of thus using a'gentle current of air is to prevent the skeinsfrom gettin entangled or the filaments broken, The filaments thenpreserve to a great extent'the straightness which is given them duringthe drying under tension in the first .process. They therefore havelittle covermg power, i n fact their covering power is greatly inferiorto'that of natural silk.

This invention largely overcomes this difficulty and the filaments aremade to assume a crinkled or irregular form which prevents them comingso closely together in the strand of filaments and this gives increased"covering power to the final product without any appreciable ,loss inbrilliancy. Incidentally the yarn is softer and more like natural silkin appearance.

For this purpose, according to the present invention, the freshlyprecipitated filaments in a plastic or semi-colloidal condition, eitherwith or without a preliminary drying, are loosely supported in a finaldrying operation in a moist condition in the form of a skein on two ormore supports in such a manner as to have a limited-freedom of motion,and are then acted upon by a strong current of heated air, whereby theindividual filaments are kept in movement relatively to each otherduring the time the fiber colloid is being dehydrated by the action ofthe heated air, and at the same time an excessive amount of motion,,such as would cause the filaments to become entangled, is prevented. f

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates one form of apparatus 'for supporting and drying theskein.-

Fig. 2 shows a different form of skein drying apparatus with thesupporting rods.

Fig. 3 shows a wheel for supporting the skein.

largeto prevent the filaments rods K B towards the end of the dryingperiod or at means for adjusting rods A B supporting the skel Fig. 4shows a revolvable frame for supporting the skein.

This improvement may be effected in several ways so far as themeans'taken to secure this relative movement is concerned. Thus, forinstance, when the yarn is already finished except fora final dryingoperation, the skeins may be placed on a frame,

which are arranged one above the other at a suitable distance apart inan air conduit C and pass through t e interior of the skein D.

While in this position the skein is subjected,

to a strong blast -of,,heated air which is made to pass'right throughthe skein and thuskeep the convolutions of the strand and the individualfilaments which make up the strand, in a constant state of movementrelatively to each other. In this way the filaments are prevented duringthe drying process from becoming attached together in places, thismovement being relatively violent as compared with'that which they wouldreceive in an ordinary drying stove where movement of the skeins isavoided as far as-possible. This treatment therefore ensures that theindividual filaments shall be constantly'moving as compared withadjacent filaments will dry ina more crinkled condition and so occupyloosely twisted strand.

Alternatively when the strands are being dried on a stretchingframetinder tension it is possible to obtain something like the same resultby carefully caring together the supporting rods A B etwee-n which theskein; is supported, e. g., by a sprocket chain E and wheels F F, Fig.2, in such'a manner that from time to time the rods may be turned andwiththem the'skein, and thus the sticking together of the filaments maybe obviated. The diameterof the supporting rods or frames should besufliciently from winding round them. Or else and preferably the may bebrought closer together some other stage of the the required brightnessThis may be effected as shown in Fig. 2, by

drying, 1. e., when actuating one or more screws G connectingbearings'I-I in which there are arrangedthe The loosely held skeins arethen subject d-while still on the frame to astrong blast of, air,

- -y supported loosely on the rods A B, Fig. 1,

filaments, and in addition that the a larger space in the has ,beenobtained.

rod L of suitable diameter during the time the skein holder is slowlyrevolved. The blast of air which in this case may provide the necessarymovement to the skein may either be delivered from a central pipe Mplaced just under the skein winder and act on the inner side of theskein or it may be directed against the outer side of the skein means ofa pipe M. Or the external b blast may be provided by the current of airin an air conduit such as C, Fig. 1. By this means the skein in a slowlyrevolving condition is subjected to the necessary change of position andmovement which gives the desired result. Owing to its penetrating naturethe air blast is specially suitable for effecting this continuous changein the relative positions of adjacent filaments but any other movementwhich will produce the same efiect may be used.

A number of skeins whether they be on rods or on a skein holder may besimultaneously treated in a long and suitably constructed chamber suchas C, along which the air blast is driven in required force. The

temperature of the air "is preferably be-- tween 25 and 30 C. In thisway the air once used may be passed again through the chamber and,re-used until it is saturated with aqueous vapor or otherwise. It isfound necessary to free the air from suspended matter or dust as thissettles on the filaments under the conditions of treatment and tends todiscolor the same. This preliminary treatment of the air is effected byknown means.

here the skein is alreadly dry it is possible to obtain a beneficialefiect by keeping the skein in a state of movement similar to thatdescribed after it has been steamed'or even sprayed with a fine waterspray in order to slightly damp the same.

The relative motion of the filaments may he obtained by other means, forexample, by whirling the frameN carrying the skein, (Fig. 4), on a shaft0, the line joining the two rods P P supporting the skein beingpreferably inclined as shown relatively to a radiusvfrom the axis of theshaft 0.

By one of the means 1ndicated or, equivalent ones the filaments in thestrands of artificial silk are kept in relative movement to one another,and under this treatment the filaments also tend to lose their strai htcondition and become more or less crink ed with advantage to theircovering power in mass.

What I claim as new is:

1. A recess of treating artificial silk and like artificial filamentsarranged in the form.

of a skein, consisting in first subjecting the filaments in a hydratedplastic condition to a preliminar drying under tension, then supportingt e skein in a moist condition loosely but with a limited freedom ofmotion in a plurality of places around its periphery, and finallysubjecting the filaments while so supported to drying in conjunctionwith movement of the filaments relatively to v each other, this beingefi'ected by means of heated air moving relatively thereto at a highvelocity.

2. A like artlficial filaments arranged in the form of a skein,consisting in first subjecting the filaments in a hydrated plasticcondition to a preliminary drying under tension and then supporting theskein in a moist condition loosely but with a limited freedom of motionin a plurality of places around its periphery, and finally subjectingthe filaments while so Supported to drying in conjunction with movementof the filaments relatively to each other, this being efiected by meansof heated air movin relatively to the filaments at a high velocity andby moving the skein in a direction longitudinally of the filaments.

3. In the manufacture of artificial silk and like artificialfilaments,the process consisting of a preliminar drying of thefilaments, a moistening of t e same and a final drying wherein thefilaments in skein form and in a moist condition are suspended in such amanner as to have only a limited freedom of motion under the action of astrong current of hot air which is caused to act on the filaments duringthe time of dehydration.

4. In the process of manufacturing of artificial silk,..and likeartificial filaments, a final drying operation wherein the filaments inskein form and in a moist condition aresus ended in such a manner as tohave only a limited freedom of motion under the action of a strongcurrent of hot air which is caused to act on the filaments during thetime of dehydration.

' LIA-M PORTER DREAPER.

itnesses:

(30mm) NOLD,

amen Ronmson.

rocess of treating artificial silk and

